Determination of poly cyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in honey by matrix solid-phase dispersion and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry

Abstract

A multiresidue method was developed for the determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in unifloral and multifloral honeys. The analytical procedure is based on the matrix solid-phase dispersion of honey on a mixture of Florisil and anhydrous sodium sulfate in small glass columns and extraction with hexane-ethyl acetate (90 + 10, v/v) with assisted sonication. The PAH residues are determined by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection using selected-ion monitoring. Average recoveries for all the PAHs studied were in the range of almost 80 to 101 %, with relative standard deviations of 6 to 15%. The limits of detection ranged from 0.04 to 2.9 μg/kg. The simultaneous extraction and cleanup of samples makes this method simple and rapid, with low consumption of organic solvents.